As markets continue to change and evolve, RMS is expanding its coverage in Asia-Pacific by adding agricultural risk models for China and India. Currently, China is the largest agricultural producer globally with nearly four times the output of the U.S. India is second in the world with an agricultural GDP twice that of the U.S. Together, both countries feed 36% of the global population
with 14% of the world’s agricultural land.

The addition of our two new models is part of the RMS strategy to help clients close the insurance coverage gap.

Agricultural Modeling for China Mainland

As the second largest market for agriculture insurance after the U.S., China mainland has the biggest livestock and forestry insurance portfolio in the world. The Chinese agriculture insurance market has grown from a premium volume of US$100 million in 2006 to more than US$6 billion in 2016.

China’s agricultural sector is developing as the country responds to the rising and increasingly sophisticated demands of domestic consumers, adapts to global food markets, and competes for labor, capital, and resources.

RMS® China Agricultural Model (CAM) is the first model that covers crop, livestock, and forestry risks at county level consistent with the insurance coverage in China mainland. It includes a database of current insurance terms and conditions, additional modifiers, historical scenarios, and a portfolio module for reinsurance pricing/accumulation.

Agricultural Modeling for India

India is the largest market for weather and yield index-based agriculture insurance schemes. Being mainly non-irrigated (rain fed), India’s agriculture is highly exposed to natural disasters – with the potential for dramatic consequences if delays from monsoon rainfalls occur.

Rapid growth, newly insured risks, frequent changes in financial terms and conditions, and short loss histories make actuarial risk pricing for India a challenge for insurers and reinsurers.

The RMS® India Agricultural Model (IAM) is the first model that covers weather (WBCIS) and yield (mNAIS, currently operated within PMFBY scheme) index-based insurance contracts at the district level. IAM extends the view of risk beyond the historical data usually used by the market. It includes a database of current market term sheets, stochastic loss distributions, and historical scenarios (including El Nino and La Nina years).

Global Index Solution

RMS Agro Risk Metrics (ARM) were co-developed with IFFCO-Tokio and enable accurate pricing of weather- and yield-index covers, as well as accurate claim management and portfolio-level loss modeling. The tool is used by insurers in India, China, and around the world – providing access to 40 types of indices with features such as "rolling limits" and "super covers."